Town of Grifton
528 Queen Street 
P.O. Box 579
Grifton, NC 28530
(252) 524-5168
 

 

The Grifton Shad Festival’s website was named “Best Website” for festivals and events with a budget of under $50,000 at a conference of North and South Carolina festivals and events held February 2005 in Greenville, South Carolina.

 

“Tell us how you heard about the Shad Festival. E-mail us at edhase@aol.com.

The 40th Annual
Grifton, N.C.
Shad Festival

2010 Date: April 13 - 18

Most events April 17 - 18

2010 Theme:
Peace, Love & Shad

Submit a design for the new theme and win a free "Eat Mo Shad" T-shirt. Deadline is Feb. 19. E-mail design in a jpg or pdf attachment to marknwendy@dishmail.net.


 

 

The Shad Festival Parade Saturday morning means excitement and fun for all ages. Creative homemade floats are a tradition. Shown here is a float by Cub Scouts in the 2008 theme category, “Pirates of the Contentnea, A Shadabration”.

Latin music and dance events Sunday afternoon include Salsa dance music and free instruction.


Shad souvenirs at 'Shad Shack' behind Town Common

Fish Fry (Saturday only, 11 a.m.-2.p.m.), prepared by Grifton Volunteer Fire Department.

Visitors view the free Shad Festival Art Show at the Museum lobby of the Civic Center Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Nearly half of the 40 events at the Shad Festival are arts-related

2009 Fishy Tales Winners

2010 contest will be held
on April 13


Contentnea Creek bisects Grifton and provides beautiful scenery for canoeing and boating. This year the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation will have canoes and kayaks at the boat landing Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for you to try paddling around – it’s free.
 

Magic Shows Sat. & Sun. afternoons sponsored by Embarq

Art created by Grifton children in Town-sponsored art classes is exhibited at the Shad Festival Children’s Art Show.
 

Pony Rides and Petting Zoo are exciting for kids, in the Children's Area on Pitt Street across from the "Shad Shack" Souvenir/Information Building.
 

Youngsters and teens rate the carnival rides the most exciting event at Grifton’s annual Shad Festival. They open Wednesday evening and run through Saturday
 

Clogging Saturday afternoon is fun to watch. Two shows are scheduled, both by the Green Grass Cloggers of Greenville. See them at the Queen Street Performance Area in front of CB’s Service Station.

 

2009 Miss Grifton, Caitlyn Carrasquillo

Needlework projects made by Grifton Senior Citizens will be at the Civic Center Craft Room Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
 

The Shad Festival Parade starts at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday with bands, marching units, area queens, floats, Shrine groups, clowns and much more. The U.S. Marine Band shown here was in the 2008 parade.


 

Colorful and humorous clowns add to Shad Festival parade fun.
 


Free craft activities at the Children’s Craft Tent sponsored by Home Depot of Greenville include planting flowers and building several projects from wood like boats or bird houses.


 

Fike High School Marching Band of Wilson won a trophy and $200 in the 2008 Shad Festival Parade. Click on the little fish labeled Parade for information on how to apply for participation in this year’s Parade.


 

Records set in 2007 for the Shad Toss still stand: William Morning (left) 183 ft. 8 inches for males age 15 and older and Kirsten Burt (right) 162 ft. 1 inch for females ages 11-14. The tournament is on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, this year near the boat landing at the creek.
 

See how far you can throw a real fish at the Shad Toss Saturday and Sunday afternoons. This year the tournament will be at Contentnea Creek near the boat landing. Click on the little fish labeled Map to see where the Shad Toss will be.

Face painting is one of the many free arts events at the Shad Festival.


 

Kids of all ages love the balloon sculptures and magic shows Saturday and Sunday afternoons. See Schedule for details.

Music, dance and other entertainment events are features at the Shad Festival. See Schedule for details.
 

A colorful Sunday afternoon feature is traditional dances of Mexico, danced by Ballet Folklorico Espiritu Latino dancers in colorful costumes of the Jalisco and Nuevo Leon sections of Mexico. See them near the “Shad Shack” souvenir building in the Town Common area.

2010 Pet Show will be Third Annual Pet Show.  Shown here is the 2009 winners.

The Grifton Museum of Area Culture includes interesting exhibits on Tuscarora and prehistoric Indian artifacts, Civil War items (including a cannonball found less than one block from the Museum), household items and farm equipment from the past, fossils and animals in the Natural History Room, and much more. It is open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons of Shad Festival weekend and from 2-4 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month. Free.

Barbecued pork and chicken by New Covenant Holy Church are featured on the Town Common Saturday after 2 p.m. and Sunday beginning at noon. Nearby this year will be an Interdenominational Community Church Service on Sunday.

 


A mobile aquarium by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission will be in the Town Common area with live fish swimming in tanks for cold water fish and tanks for warm water fish.

 

 


 


Youngsters have fun “fishing” in the Town Common area at a pool provided by the East Carolina Subunit of the American Fisheries Society.

Craft Show at Shad Festival

 

Copyright 2009 - Town of Grifton - All Rights Reserved